Date Night?
by BecomingFearless1F
Summary: "I'm sitting here waiting at a table for my longtime boyfriend to come to dinner, where I think he's going to propose to me, and it's been two hours and people are judging me when you show up, acting like my boyfriend so I don't feel awkward, and I think I'm finally having a good time on a date" AU. Shidge. One-shot (EPILOGUE IS COMING OUT SOON)


That was it. Pidge was officially done.

It had been nearly two hours (and counting) since her scheduled date with her boyfriend of three years, Lance McClain, at the newest restaurant in downtown Altea, _The Castle of Lions. _They had scheduled the whole shebang nearly two months ago; the restaurant was so popular that it took that long in order to get a booking. For two, staggering months, Pidge had primped and preened, she had saved up money to buy the fancy floor-length green dress she was wearing (something she never did before, but she knew that Lance liked girls in dresses) and it was supposed to be the night.

The night that Lance proposed to her.

Well, she didn't know for sure if Lance was going to propose to her. But, according to his flat-mate Hunk, who happened to be Pidge's best friend, Pidge's longtime boyfriend had been asking about rings and what Pidge's ring size was. Being the good friend that he was, Hunk had immediately let Pidge know about it, so Pidge had gone the extra mile of even sending Lance's favorite wine to his house as an advanced thank-you gift for the ring. Not that he knew it was an advanced thank-you gift, though.

"Would you like to order yet, Miss?" a voice interrupted her. She glanced up at the waiter: a tall, thin man with startling bright orange hair and the most interesting mustache ever. His name-tag read 'Coran'. "You have been sitting here for a while…"

"Just a few minutes more," she promised, nodding lightly. "I'm afraid my date got…stuck in traffic. He said he'll be here soon."

Coran nodded lightly, but even without looking into his eyes, Pidge could tell that the man didn't really believe her. Heck, Pidge didn't even believe herself!

It wasn't unusual for Lance to be late; the man wasn't exactly a stickler when it came to being on time, like Pidge was. In fact, on their first date (her prom night), he had been nearly an hour late and they got to the party when it was half over. Still, it had been the night of her first kiss, so Pidge hadn't complained about it. But edging on two hours was excessive, even for him. Pidge glanced down at her phone, hoping to see some form of text or email from him, indicating where he was.

Nothing. Just the time confirming that it had now been two hours since their scheduled date of seven. Two hours of sitting awkwardly and looking towards the doors in anticipation. Pidge glanced down at the table. The two candles in the middle, which were originally intended to be romantic, were almost burned down to their nubs. The beautiful white lace tablecloth looked almost like a dirty cream to her watery eyes…

Pidge gasped and grabbed her napkin, gently dabbing at her eyes and steeling her nerve. No. She was not going to cry. She was strong. Lance was late; that was all it was. Maybe he had some traffic problems or his car broke down. She gasped again. Maybe he was hurt! Should she go to him or just wait…?

She heard soft murmuring around her and instinctively turned her ears subtly to listen in. As a high-rated, high-risk negotiator, she was used to picking up on the soft mutterings of another person, in case they had anything to say that could help with her current case.

"Poor girl, all alone for so long without her man," an older woman cooed, maybe around fifty years old. She was sitting at a table with another woman of the same age a few rows down from Pidge. Pidge tensed up, her arms shaking angrily. "What a sad child."

_I don't want your pity, Lady! _Pidge wanted to snap, her shoulders shaking with a deep-felt rage. _I just want my stupid boyfriend to show up and…_

Movement across the table caught her eye. She snapped her head up, relief feeling her body at the thought of finally seeing Lance's handsome face.

Except it wasn't Lance.

Instead, it was a different man, one who was even handsomer than Lance (which Pidge didn't know was a thing). He had a strong, chiseled face and dark, onyx-colored eyes. There was a scar crossing the bridge of his nose, and his hair was black with close cropped sides; the top was longer and his bangs were a bright, startling white. _Interesting hairstyle_, Pidge thought inwardly. The man hadn't come from inside, otherwise Pidge would've noticed him. Anyone would have noticed him, honestly; the man was pretty impressive.

He had trim black slacks and had a white, ironed button up shirt. The top two buttons were undone and his sleeves were rolled up neatly to his elbows, not pressed up angrily the way that Lance usually did it. Pidge took an unintentional deep breath through her nose and smelt…cologne? Whatever it was, it smelt _divine _and nothing like the cheap-o stuff Lance usually broke out for her.

"Hey Babe, sorry I took so long," the man was saying when Pidge eventually tuned in to his words. Whoa…even his voice was attractive. A baritone noise that was still calm and relaxing. Much different than Lance's squeaky voice. The stranger took the chair out and sat down in it neatly, pulling the chair up so he was close to the table. "Traffic was killer; you won't believe the accident that was on the interstate."

Pidge felt her mouth open and close constantly. What the heck was happening here? Who was he? He definitely wasn't Lance, which meant he was a stranger and Pidge did not have dinner with strangers. She almost leaned down to grab her purse when the stranger leaned across the table and, with a soft smile, whispered, "Hi, I know I'm not who you're waiting for." Pidge paused and looked at him curiously. _So then why was he…?_ "I just noticed that you were sitting by yourself and I didn't want you to be lonely. Whoever you were waiting for is a jerk for leaving a beautiful woman like yourself alone."

WHOA. That was poetic and deep and very possibly the kindest thing anyone had ever said to her. She gulped and muttered a thank you, moving her hands away from her purse and back to her lap. The mysterious stranger smiled and sat back, looking at the candles with interest. Pidge tensed up and waited for the onslaught of questions as the mystery man waved a waiter over. Of course, it was the one from before: Coran, if Pidge remembered his name correctly. The mysterious man asked, "Would you mind getting some new candles for us? I'm afraid I made her wait so long that these are basically gone. Also, could you bring me another menu?"

"Of course," Coran replied, nodding to the two of them before bustling off in a frenzy. Pidge let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding before looking up at the stranger. He was adjusting his napkin across his lap when he looked up and caught her eyes.

"I'd shake your hand as an introduction, but that might look suspicious on our part," the man chuckled, shaking his head lightly. He smiled warmly at Pidge. "My name is Takashi Shirogane, but most people call me Shiro. Do I have the privilege of knowing my beautiful date's name?"

Pidge blushed hardcore this time, awkwardly pushing a stray hair behind her head. "Uh…" She gulped and inwardly cursed herself for being so awkward. "I-I'm Kaitlyn Holt. But…I really like people calling me Pidge."

"That must have an interesting backstory," Shiro commented, thanking Coran as the waiter brought new candles and a menu for Shiro. Once the candles were successfully lit and the menu handed out, Coran turned around quickly and flashed Pidge a thumbs-up and a huge smile before rushing off to wait on another table. "So, can I ask what this night is all about?" He gestured all around the fancy restaurant. "It's not every day that people come here; it is the fanciest joint in town, from what I've heard."

Pidge opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She glanced down at her phone. It was now two hours and fifteen minutes. Lance was still gone, and the pit of Pidge's stomach told her that he wasn't coming at all. The entire night, wasted. A two hundred dollar sitting fee, just gone. And now, she had to entertain a complete stranger by the name of Shiro while she figured a way to sneak out of the restaurant.

"Ok, I understand, touchy territory," Shiro relented, flipping his menu open. His eyes quickly searched the different foods and he hummed lightly to himself as he did so. "Their dishes have some good variety. Do you know what you're going to order?"

"I've known for about two hours and fifteen minutes now," Pidge snapped before she could stop herself. She felt her whole body freeze in embarrassment as she watched Shiro's head slowly lift up to look at her. He had the same sad expression in his eyes as the woman's voice had that Pidge had overheard just a few moments before he arrived. "I don't need your pity."

"It's not pity, Pidge. It's sympathy," Shiro replied, looking back down towards his menu. "I've been in your shoes before, and trust me…" He looked up, glancing off towards the side as if it was an extremely painful memory. "It's not an easy thing to bounce back from."

"You have a pity party story too?" Pidge snorted, rolling her eyes. She ignored all her lady-like traits she had practiced for tonight and leaned backwards in her chair, staring hardcore towards this Shiro. "Alright: you tell me yours and I'll tell you mine."

Shiro glanced up at her curiously, but nodded in agreement. "Alright, you're on." He pulled a hand up and held it out towards her. "Shake on it?"

Pidge nodded in confirmation and brought her own hand up to shake his. His was cold and it felt almost lifeless, but she didn't comment on it. Pidge wasn't going to distract him before he could tell her his sob story. As if a guy that attractive had some sort of sob story like hers…

"At a restaurant similar to this, I planned on proposing to my girlfriend and she never showed up."

Pidge gasped and sat up straighter in her chair in disbelief. Ok, so maybe his sob story was _really _close to hers. "W-What happened?"

Shiro smiled softly, as if he was remembering a fond memory. "I had been dating my girlfriend, Allura, for about four years. I was so in love and happy. I promised her that after I got back from serving my time, I was going to propose to her and make her the happiest wife alive."

Pidge's eyes widened and she couldn't help but blurt out, "You were in prison?"

Shiro raised an eyebrow at her. "Military. Air Force, to be specific." Pidge cooed in understanding and gestured for him to continue. "Anyways, I set it all up at this beautiful restaurant in our hometown, _Galra Empire_, and I sat there all night."

"T-That's…but...all..." Pidge began. She wasn't even sure if she could vocalize words.

"And when I say 'all night', Pidge," said Shiro, sending her a knowing look. He had known what she was trying to say, "I literally meant, all night. I spent nine hours at the restaurant. She never showed up. I texted her, I called her, heck, I even emailed her! I was eventually kicked out after the morning shift showed up and I was still at the table, though I was asleep. When I got home the next morning, I found a letter nailed to my front porch. Apparently, Allura had found a new beau while I was overseas and had decided she didn't want to date a handicap."

"Handicap?" Pidge asked softly. She was worried what that meant. Was he alright? Was he in pain from just being there with her...?

Shiro waved the arm that Pidge had shaken at her. It was then that Pidge noticed how robotic the fingers looked like. Because they were _robotic_. It was a prosthetic, but it was the most well-made prosthetic that Pidge had ever seen! She gasped at it and her hands flung out from the table before she could stop herself again. They caught Shiro's hand and halted the movement. Shiro looked at her with mixed emotions, but she verbally shushed him as she studied the hand. It looked so human, so real!

"P-Pidge…?"

"This is the coolest, most well-made thing I've ever seen in my life," Pidge hissed, mentally afraid that if she talked too loudly it would disappear. "Who made this for you?"

"A really nice mechanic named Keith," chuckled Shiro. Pidge could hear from his tone of voice that he was relieved she hadn't reacted badly to the prosthetic. "Because of this, we got to know each other and became really good friends." He paused and this caused Pidge to look up at him. He was looking down at her with an expression that Pidge couldn't quite place. Amusement? No. Lovingly? Yeah…ish? "My sob story, your sob story."

Immediately, Pidge dropped his hand and sat back in her seat. She was saved from having to answer by Coran appearing again, asking what they wanted to eat. Pidge ordered the Green Lion Special: a Caesar salad with roasted dumplings and a fine, Italian wine that she declined since she was underage. She substituted a Coke for it instead. Shiro had the Black Lion Special, which was a medium-done steak with an optional salad (which he took) and a classy dark wine, which Shiro also declined and subbed for a Dr. Pepper. When Pidge looked at him curiously (because she knew he was old enough to drink), he shrugged and replied, "If you can't drink, why should I?"

Pidge wouldn't admit it out loud just yet, but she was touched at his gesture. Lance never cared that she was underage for drinking; he would just drink whatever he wanted in front of her, and if she complained, he would just say she would have to wait until she was old enough. Not once did he ever stop to think of how lonely she felt whenever Lance and his friends would go to a bar and she would be stuck at home. Sometimes she had Hunk to watch cheesy sci-fi movies with, but most of the time he went out with Lance too.

Coran came back with surprising speed, their orders balanced perfectly in his hands. He handed each plate to each of the diners, then told them to ask for him if they had any questions or needs. Shiro and Pidge thanked the man before he scuttled off again.

Shiro looked back towards Pidge and gazed warmly at her. "I believe we were on the subject of your sob story when we last got interrupted."

Pidge wanted to growl. Of course he remembered. Why had she even hoped that he would forget? He didn't seem like the kind of guy to forget something important like that…unlike someone else she knew.

"I thought my boyfriend was coming to propose to me," Pidge whispered out, and Shiro's eyes went wide. He was respectful enough to keep his mouth from dropping, but Pidge could tell that would have been the natural reaction. "We've been planning this dinner for nearly two months. He's been asking my best friend what my ring size is and I honestly thought tonight would be it…" Pidge shook her head, sighing darkly as she felt the tears begin to prick at the corner of her eyes. "What was I kidding? He isn't coming. And no matter how hard I wish he was…"

"He left you alone for nearly three hours with no comment on why he couldn't come," Shiro butted in, and Pidge's gaze locked back onto his. His eyes were raging with fury, but Pidge could tell it wasn't directed at her. It was directed at Lance. "You do not wish for him to come; he wishes for _you_ to come. That man does not deserve you."

Pidge hiccuped back a sob and covered her mouth, closing her eyes tightly. That was it. This man, this Takashi Shirogane, who she had known for an _hour_, had been kinder to her than her rotten boyfriend of years ever had been. The tears formed in her eyes and she heard light cursing from across the table and a scrambling noise. The next thing she knew, her body was moving forward and she was being pressed against a tight, warm shoulder. Pidge knew it was Shiro; he had left his side of the table to come and hug her. She buried her face into his neck and took a shuddery deep breath as she tried to recompose herself. It had taken a while, very long, awkward moments, before Pidge felt strong enough to not cry.

She patted Shiro's other shoulder with her free hand and he slowly (Pidge would dare say _reluctantly_) pulled away from her. She sniffed and used her fingertip to wipe away any leftover tears without smearing her makeup. "Thank you."

"Anytime," Shiro replied with a serious, but kind smile. He moved back to his side of the table, only after he was certain that Pidge was alright. If she wasn't afraid to start crying again, Pidge might have laughed at his antics. He played the role of a doting boyfriend well. He sat back in his seat and picked up his fork and knife. "Well? Shall we dine?"

Pidge grinned and grabbed her fork. "We shall."

The rest of the evening went well. They ate their food (which was delicious) and played get-to-know-you games. Shiro thought that her role as a high-risk negotiator was fitting, as she seemed to keep calm under pressure (demonstrated that it had taken her two hours before she wanted to erupt from her missing boyfriend). He agreed to set up a meeting between her and Keith, as she was desperate to meet the man who had created Shiro's mechanical genius arm. Shiro loved the color black, opposed to Pidge's favorite color of green, and he insisted it was a color. He had a cat at home which he named Black (the cat was black too, which Pidge thought was a super uncreative name, but Shiro said he didn't care and the cat liked it so therefore he liked it too) and was allergic to certain kinds of metal, as he found out from his amputation surgery for his arm.

Pidge, in turn, confessed her love for mechanics and coding and how she would have gone into that if it hadn't been for her brother's and father's tragic accident when they were high-risk negotiators. Since they had risked their lives for others, Pidge realized that she could too and she should too. She switched her studies and became a high-rated negotiator by the age of twenty, less than a year since she had graduated from college. At this comment, Pidge then had to confess how she was somewhat of a genius and how she had started college at fourteen and had three different degrees. Her mom had forced her to go to her original school's prom, hence the reason she had gone to prom at all. Shiro thought all of this information was the coolest thing ever, judging by his facial expressions.

Before Pidge even knew what was happening, it was nearly midnight and most of the restaurant had cleared out. She and Shiro were still talking strong and Pidge loved the warm, bubbly feeling she felt in her chest. She actually liked Shiro; she liked how he talked to her, and how he talked to others, and how he was so defensive of her towards Lance and his gestures of appreciation towards her and everything was so romantic…

Her phone rang, interrupting something Shiro had been saying, and Pidge held up a finger to pause him while she looked at caller I.D. Her blood froze and a soft gasp arose from her.

The caller I.D. said Lance, and it showed a goofy picture Pidge had taken of the two of them when they had first started dating. Pidge gulped and looked towards Shiro with slight fear, angling the phone just enough so he could read what it said. His eyebrows raised considerably and he jerked his arm out, checking his watch to see the time. His eyebrows rose even higher and he said, "Answer it. I wanna hear what his excuse is."

Pidge nodded weakly and swiped the phone to answer the call. She put it on speakerphone and was suddenly glad that the restaurant was mostly empty. She was already shriveling up in embarrassment from what Shiro was about to hear; she didn't need that feeling in triplicate. She set the phone down onto the table.

"Lance?" she hummed, albeit weakly. She waited for a few moments, but heard silence. "Lance, is that you?"

"Where are you?" was the first thing he said. Pidge opened her mouth to respond but Lance cut her off, "You know what? Who cares. Hunk fell asleep in the flat and I know he gave you the spare key so I need you to drive down over here and open it up for me. I left my key with my date."

That sent the wind flying out of Pidge like a hunk of bricks. She gulped and had to take several deep breaths to try and calm herself. Across the table, Shiro's fists were clenched so hard that his knuckles were white and he was shaking with what looked like rage.

"Y-Your date?" Pidge managed to squeak out. She couldn't be hearing this. She just couldn't be.

"Yeah, my date," grumbled Lance. Pidge could hear the eye roll that was placed after that. "Don't you remember? You made these great plans at this quaint little restaurant and then you never showed up! Heck, they didn't even have our reservations! Luckily, there was this super cute waitress who I wined and dined and now, I want to go to bed in my room and I need that key."

"Lance," Pidge said slowly, not knowing how to explain the situation without a full on yelling spree. "I do remember. I-I'm sitting at the restaurant I made the reservations at. _The Castle of Lions_, remember? The new, fancy restaurant here in town."

There was a moment of silence across the phone. Then, "What do you mean _The Castle of Lions_? No one can get a booking so soon!"

"I made it two months ago!" Pidge yelled, leaping to her feet. She had gotten up so fast that her chair was knocked out from underneath her. Her shoulders heaved as she tried to keep her composure. Shiro got up from his side of the table in a flash and was at her side, gently rubbing her shoulders as he whispered soft, calming words into her ear, soft enough that only she could hear them. She took a deep breath and restated, "Lance, I made these reservations two months ago. We've been talking about it for weeks. I-I waited for you, Lance. I waited for you for two hours. You never showed up and you never texted me with a reason why you weren't here."

"Oh, so you're saying this is my fault?" Lance accused in return, and Pidge felt disbelief race through her entire being. Why was he being like this? "Maybe you should have done a better job at reminding me and we wouldn't be in this situation, huh?"

"Yeah, and how about you show some respect towards a woman who thought you two were going to spend the rest of your lives together?" Shiro snapped, his rage and fury apparently too much for his patience to hold back. Lance was silent for a moment and Pidge was nervous that he had hung up.

"Who was that? Pidge, who the heck is with you who thinks that they can talk to me like that?" Lance snapped brutishly. Pidge flinched at his tone and Shiro took a step in front of her, even though Lance couldn't hurt her; it was only the phone.

"I'm the one who had to save _your_ date the embarrassment of being stuck in a restaurant all alone while she waited for your sorry-behind to get in gear and get here," snapped Shiro, his fists clenching and then unclenching rapidly. "How long?"

"How long what, mystery man?" growled Lance, his voice slightly statically. Almost like his voice was shaking.

"How long did you stay at your restaurant before you flirted with the waitress?" shouted Shiro, leaning towards the phone dangerously. "And don't you dare lie to her."

"Fifteen minutes," grumbled Lance.

Pidge gasped again as tears rushed to her eyes. Fifteen minutes. Lance had waited only fifteen minutes before he moved on. She had waited two meaningless hours! "F-Fifteen minutes? T-That was it?"

"And how do you explain talking to her best friend about ring sizes, huh?" ordered Shiro, his shoulders tensing up. Pidge could see how they were tight against his white shirt. "Tell me that, Casanova."

Lance was silent for four minutes this time, when he finally spat out, "I was going to propose to my girlfriend." Pidge's eyes widened with semi-relief before he added, "Not Holt. I was going to propose to my _other _girlfriend, Plaxum. The two of them have similar ring sizes so I thought Hunk might know and it would be a good enough guess."

Pidge let out a sob, not caring this time if he heard it. She collapsed to the ground, using her arms to cover her face as she used her fallen chair as a stool. Her shoulders racked with heavy, ugly sobs, and through the noise she could hear Shiro threaten Lance, "If you ever call her or try to see her again, I will find you and I will end you. Get rid of this number and treat this Plaxum right, or you will face my wrath."

Silence followed, the only noise coming from Pidge's cries. She felt a hand resting between her shoulder blades and she lunged towards Shiro's kneeling body, wrapping her arms around the man and snuggling her face against his chest. He returned the hug without hesitancy and rubbed the back of her neck with his thumb, soothingly. "Listen to me, Pidge. That man is not worth your tears. His words are lies. You are strong, beautiful, true, and brave. You had to be to answer his call. Do not let him break you. There will be other guys out there who will try their hardest to be worthy of you. I swear there will, and when they day comes, he will be the better man who will get down on one knee and propose to you and make you the happiest woman alive."

Pidge let out another sob again and just clung to Shiro tighter. She wasn't sure how long they sat there. She did know by the time her crying had reduced that the entire restaurant was deserted besides the awkward waiter Coran and the man who owned the restaurant, Alfor King. She pushed herself away from Shiro awkwardly, using her arms to rub her eyes. Screw makeup. It was pointless anyways, right? The man she had put it on for wasn't coming and was never going to come again. She was alone again.

"How you doing there, Pidge? Feeling better?" Shiro asked tentatively, and Pidge nodded slightly. As much as her heart broke, she was now feeling as if it broke for the things that never were rather than the things that were lost. She hadn't been crying over Lance; she had been crying over the years she wasted pining after him and the years she had spent dating him. "Good. Now, how about dessert?"

Pidge let out a watery laugh and nodded slightly, looking past Shiro's shoulder as someone coughed awkwardly. The duo turned towards Coran and Alfor, who were both standing behind the classy bar-style table with awkward expressions.

"I hate to be the Debby Downer on the situation, but we really need to close up shop," sniffed Coran. His eyes looked slightly watery…had he been crying alongside Pidge? "But you two are more than welcome to come back tomorrow to do this all over again, only properly this time."

"But this restaurant has been booked for months," gulped Pidge, rubbing her eyes again. "We could never get a…"

"You're looking at the man in charge of everything," Alfor replied, raising an eyebrow. "I can get you a table if you want one."

Shiro glanced at Pidge, an amused look, and yep, definitely loving look, in his eyes. "Hmm. I don't know if I can pass that up. Sounds like a good deal."

"They really do have good food," Pidge laughed, resting her forehead wearily against Shiro's strong shoulder. "I don't think I can refuse." She paused, then lifted her head to look questioningly into Shiro's pretty eyes again. "Wait…was that your equivalency of asking me out on a date?"

"And if it was?" Shiro responded cheekily, raising an eyebrow at her. Pidge bit her lower lip, pretending to be deep in thought.

"Well, you definitely could have been smoother with the delivery," Pidge answered earnestly. "I've talked with you all night, I know you could have." She stopped, then smiled. This time, actually genuinely smiled. "I would love to come back again with you. This time, on a proper date."

"A proper first date, it is then," Shiro agreed. He stood up and offered her his hands to help her up. She used them and before she knew it, Shiro had swooped her up into his arms and she laughed at the hilarity of it all. "With that, Gentlemen, we leave you! I need to make sure this little lady gets home, safe and sound."

Pidge sent him a withering look. She had forgotten that she had told him how sensitive she was to short-people jokes. Apparently, not even the great Takashi Shirogane was impervious to pokes at her height. "Really? Couldn't help yourself? That could be the deal breaker to our relationship: more pokes at my height."

"Nah," Shiro dismissed, shaking his head as he began walking towards the door. "I figured that would be when I told you I've never seen any of the _Back to the Futures_ or _Star Wars_."

A gasp of disbelief and two wonderful sounds of laughter were what Alfor and Coran listened to as the pair walked away into the night; Alfor and Coran were already planning on how to make sure those two stayed together and never were apart again.

* * *

**A/N: WOW! My first Voltron fanfic, go me :). I have a couple more ideas formulating in my brain for good Voltron stories, so stay tuned! Also, there is going to be an epilogue to this story, but I am going to mark this story as "Complete", since it wasn't originally intended to have an epilogue, but I want it to have one.**

**Please review with what you think and maybe what your favorite line or part was, or comment, question, or conspiracy theory. In the meantime, what for my next Voltron Fanfic Idea: _The 7 Times When Pidge Needed Cuddles and the 1 Time She Returned the Favor _(it will be under a different name).**


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